President Joe Biden will give the annual State of the Union speech Thursday night, a high-profile event that will be even more closely watched with 2024 being an election year.
It will be the last State of the Union address of Biden’s first term in office, though he’s hoping his performance will allow him to make four more in a second. Republicans have other ideas and will make their opposition known via responses, demands, and, in some cases, simply not showing up.
Here’s what to watch during the president’s address to Congress.
How long will he go?
Biden tends to make shorter speeches, and recent controversies surrounding his memory mean the sheer length of his remarks will be closely monitored, as will any gaffes.
The length of State of the Union speeches has varied considerably over the years, with Richard Nixon speaking for less than 29 minutes in 1972 and Bill Clinton going for nearly an hour and a half in 1995 and 2000.
Barack Obama kept his State of the Unions at around one hour in length, while former President Donald Trump, who is famous for his long speeches, varied between one hour and an hour and 22 minutes.
Biden’s State of the Union addresses are among the longest speeches he has made as president, all going past an hour, with last year’s edition lasting for an hour and 13 minutes.
He’ll be using a teleprompter for the most part but could go off-script, especially if he’s again heckled by Republicans.
Immigration front and center
Immigration has become the top issue for voters according to recent polls, and it will be top of mind for many during the State of the Union address.
Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) has penned a letter to Biden challenging him to name Laken Riley, a Georgia college student allegedly murdered by an illegal immigrant, during the high-profile speech.
“As Commander-in-Chief, it is your duty to protect American citizens, and this tragedy highlights the urgent need to address the surge in crime resulting from your negligence at our southern border,” Banks wrote.
“Your failure to publicly acknowledge this tragedy is unacceptable,” he added. “The safety and security of American citizens should be your top priority. I am calling on you to publicly acknowledge the Riley family’s tragedy and take swift and decisive action to secure the border.”
Jose Ibarra, the suspect arrested in the case, is a Venezuelan immigrant who was arrested in 2022 on charges of illegally crossing the border but was later released into the country. Ibarra had other run-ins with the law in New York and Athens, Georgia, but was not removed because of those arrests either.
“Will President Biden publicly address Laken Riley’s murder, allegedly at the hands of an illegal immigrant who was released by law enforcement multiple times, on Thursday night?” a reporter asked during Tuesday’s White House news briefing.
We won’t know until the speech happens.
“I don’t have anything to share about the president’s speech as it relates to that particular question,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded. “But we’ve, you know, we always want to always be sure that we lift up the families who have lost their loved ones in that way.”
Biden has been trying to flip the script over surging illegal immigration on Republicans, blaming them for the failure of a border deal in the Senate that most of the GOP did not support. He may return to that message on Thursday night.
Watch for responses
Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) will give the Republican response to the State of the Union. Britt, 42, is the youngest Republican woman ever elected to the Senate and is considered a rising star in the party.
“I am truly honored and grateful for the opportunity to speak directly to my fellow Americans and have a candid conversation about the future of our nation,” she said in a statement. “The Republican Party is the party of hardworking parents and families, and I’m looking forward to putting this critical perspective front and center.”
Republicans are hoping Britt’s youth and status as a mother of school-age children will provide a positive contrast against Biden, the oldest president in history.
Nicolas O’Rourke, a Philadelphia city councilman, will give the progressive response on behalf of the Working Families Party.
The WFP’s selection of O’Rourke signals the third party is searching for up-and-coming lawmakers to serve as their national representative for the progressive movement. It has not endorsed Biden for the 2024 election despite endorsing him in 2020 but has adamantly opposed Trump, the leading GOP candidate.
Trump himself is expected to counterprogram the event somehow with something of his own, though details are hazy at this point.
Guests and no-shows
Presidents always invite special guests to honor at the State of the Union, and members of Congress do as well.
Biden invited Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian dissent figure Alexei Navalny, to be a guest during the speech, but she declined. Navalny died last month under mysterious circumstances, and Biden has said Russian President Vladimir Putin is to blame.
The president met with Navalnaya last month and extended the invitation then, according to Jean-Pierre.
First lady Jill Biden will host Kate Cox, the Texas woman at the center of a briefly granted and revoked abortion case, as one of her guests. Also, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) has invited Kayla Smith, who moved from Idaho to Washington in 2022 after her former home state would not allow an abortion for a fetus with “serious and fatal fetal anomalies,” according to the Hill.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) will host the parents of Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter who has been detained in Russia since last March.
Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) has invited the family of Laken Riley to attend, though it’s unclear if they will. Collins represents the district in which Riley was killed and has introduced the Laken Riley Act in Congress.
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), has invited Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient Dr. Denisse Rojas Marquez to be his guest.
Finally, 17 family members of Israeli hostages being held in Gaza will attend, hosted by members of Congress from both political parties who will wear yellow ribbons and dog tags reading “bring them home.”
On the flip side, some members of Congress have said they will not attend the speech at all. The Washington Examiner reported that Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) says she will not be part of Biden’s “puppet show.”
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“Given the nature of the investigations I have been conducting along with other members of House Oversight, I cannot in good conscience sit through hours of spin and lying to the American people,” Luna said.
Other legislators may join Luna in sitting out the speech as a form of protest.
